BYU football: How the Cougars' offense and defense rank nationally

The Cougars' defense is one of the toughest in the nation. But even with that tough defense, how does BYU's offense and defense rank nationally?

Here's a list of BYU's national rankings on defense and offense, according to NCAA.com.

Total defense

Josh Ferrin

National rank: 5

The Cougar defense is the fifth best in college football, as it only allows 246 total offensive yards per game, according to the NCAA.

Utah State has the No. 11 defense in the country and Utah's is ranked no. 29.

Texas Tech has the No. 1 overall defense in college football, allowing just 167.5 total offensive yards per game.

Turnovers gained

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

National rank: T-70

As good as the BYU defense is, it doesn't force a lot of turnovers. BYU is tied at No. 70 in country in turnovers gained.

The Cougar defense has only forced seven turnovers so far this season.

Fresno State is the best in the nation as forcing turnovers with 16 so far this season.

Red zone defense

Ravell Call, Deseret News

National rank: 1

Opposing offenses have only been in the red zone eight times this season against the Cougars. BYU opponents have only scored three times in the red zone, with two rushing touchdowns, one passing touchdown and zero field goals.

Teams score just 38 percent of the time in the red zone against the Cougars.

Sacks

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

National rank: T-10

BYU has sacked the quarterback 17 times so far this season, for a total of 122 yards. The team averages 3.4 sacks per game.

Tulsa averages 5.2 sacks a game, the most in the nation.

Tackles for loss

Tom Smart, Deseret News

National rank: T-14

The Cougars get an average of 8.2 tackles for loss per game and have stopped runners from reaching the line of scrimmage 41 times in 2012.

Tulsa has the No. 1 ranking in this category as with 10.6 tackles for loss each game.

First down defense

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

National rank: 9

BYU's defense only allows an average of 13.8 first downs a game this season. Texas Tech, no. 1 in this category, only allows 10.75 first downs per contest.

Passes intercepted

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

National rank: T-70

BYU has only managed to intercept passes from the opposing quarterback three times in five games. Fresno State is No. 1 in the nation, with 11.

Fumbles recovered

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

National rank: T-45

BYU's defense has recovered just four fumbles so far this season.

Louisiana Tech is No. 1 in the country with nine fumbles recovered.

Passing defense

Tom Smart, Deseret News

National rank: 11

Opponents have thrown 153 passes against BYU but only get 5.34 yards per attempt.

Texas Tech is No. 1 in this category as opposing teams only get 3.9 yards per pass attempt.

Third down conversion percentage on defense

Ravell Call, Deseret News

National rank: 6

In 76 attempts, Cougar opponents have converted just 20 third downs, a rate of 20.32 percent.

TCU is No. 1 in the nation in this category. The Horned Frogs' opponents only convert 19.3 percent of their third downs.

Utah State is ranked ninth in the country in this category at 27.06 percent. Utah is ranked 26th with a rate of 31.15.

Passing efficiency on defense

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

National rank: 19

Opposing teams have thrown two touchdowns and have an average completion percentage of 58.82 against the Cougar defense this season.

Texas Tech has the No. 1 ranking in this category.

Fourth down conversion percentage defense

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

National rank: 13

BYU's defense has stopped opponents from converting on fourth down 9 times out of 11 tries. Opponents convert on fourth down just 18.18 percent of the time.

No. 1 is North Texas as the team's opponents haven't converted on fourth down at all this season, but have tried four times.

Rushing defense

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

National rank: 2

Teams are only getting an average of 1.96 yards per carry and 63.2 yards per game against BYU's defense in 2012.

Rutgers has the No. 1 spot in this category, holding its opponents to just 2.45 yards per carry and 62.5 yards per game on the ground this season.

Scoring defense

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

National rank: 4

Teams have only scored an average of 10 points per game against the Cougars this year.

Alabama holds its opponents to an average of just seven points per game, giving it the No. 1 ranking in the nation.

Total offense

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

National rank: 64

On offense, the Cougars average 5.4 yards per play and 402 total yards per game.

At the No. 1 spot is Oklahoma State. The Cowboys average 659 yards per game.

Utah State is No. 40 in the nation averaging 452.2 yards per game.

Utah has one of the worst offenses in the nation, averaging just 298.25 yards per game. Utah is ranked 112 in the nation in total offense.

Red zone offense

Ravell Call, Deseret News

National rank: T-41

When in the red zone, BYU scores 87 percent of the time. In 23 attempts, BYU has scored 20 times, with 16 touchdowns.

Oklahoma State is tied at the no.1 spot, scoring 100 percent of the time in the red zone. The Cowboys have scored 20 touchdowns and five field goals in the red zone this season.

Turnovers lost

Ravell Call, Deseret News

National rank: T-86

BYU has turned the ball over 10 times in the young 2012 season.

Idaho has turned the ball over more than any team in college football this season, with 16. Giving it the No. 120 ranking.

Turnover margin

Ravell Call, Deseret News

National rank: T-86

The Cougars have a turnover ratio of -0.6 per game and have turned the ball over 10 times while forcing seven turnovers.

Mississippi State is No. 1 in the nation in turnover margin with a margin of +3.25 per contest.

Third down conversion percentage

Ravell Call, Deseret News

National rank: 56

The Cougar offense converts 42.67 percent of its third downs.

No.1 in the country is West Virginia with a conversion rate of 60.87.

First downs

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

National rank: 36

BYU gets an average of 23.6 first downs per game.

Texas Tech gets an average of 31.75 first downs per game, the most in the nation.

Passing offense

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

National rank: 92

This ranking covers a variety of statistics. BYU's interception percent is 3.77. Cougar quarterbacks average just 6.42 yards per pass attempt and 204.2 pass yards per game.

West Virginia is No. 1 in the country with 441.5 pass yards per game and 9.76 yards per attempt.

Rushing offense

Ravell Call, Deseret News

National rank: 36

BYU averages 4.64 yards per carry and 197.8 yards per game.

Air Force has the No. 1 rushing offense in college football with an average of 396.25 yards on the ground each game. Air Force also averages 6.07 yards per carry.

Penalties per game

Ravell Call, Deseret News

National rank: T-109

BYU averages 8.4 penalties per game and racks up 78.8 yards in penalties each game.

Kansas State holds the No. 1 spot in college football, with just two penalties per game.

Passing efficiency

Tom Smart, Deseret News

National rank: 88

When it comes to passing efficiency, BYU has a rating of 122.30.

Utah has a rating of 137.11 and Utah State's is 155.89.

West Virginia has the No. 1 spot in the country with a rating of 200.36.

Time of possession

Ravell Call, Deseret News

National rank: 46

Due in part to its turnover margin and inability to get first downs, BYU's offense doesn't have the ball as much as 45 other teams in college football.

Oregon State is No. 1 in the nation in time of possession.

Fourth down conversion percentage

Ravell Call, Deseret News

National rank: T-17

BYU has converted six out of eight fourth downs in 2012. That's an 75 percent conversion rate.

Middle Tennessee is No. 1 in the country with six out of six attempts converted.

Tackles for loss allowed

Tom Smart, Deseret News

National rank: T-101

BYU players have been tackled for negative yards 34 times in four games this season. That's an average of 6.8 tackles for loss per game. The Cougars have lost 137 yards this season on being tackled behind the line of scrimmage.

Texas ranks No. 1 in tackles for loss allowed as teams have only been able to stop Texas behind the line of scrimmage nine times this season.

Individual passing

Tom Smart, Deseret News

National rank: T-79

Riley Nelson completes an average of 16 passes per game. He has an average yards per completion of 11.78 and five touchdown passes.

No. 1 in passing is Rakeem Cato of Marshall. Cato has 15 touchdown passes and averages 37.4 completions per game. His average yards per completion is 10.27.

Most tackles

Rich Abrahamson, AP

National rank: T-75

Senior linebacker Brandon Ogletree has 42 tackles this season and averages 8.4 per game.

Sophomore linebacker, Bryce Hager of Baylor, leads the nation in tackles with 54 total. He gets an average of 13.5 tackles per game.

Total receiving yards

John F. Rhodes, AP

National rank: T-68

Cody Hoffman has 318 receiving yards this season, more than any other play in Utah.

Terrence Williams of Baylor, leads the nation in receiving yards with 667.

Scoring offense

Ravell Call, Deseret News

National rank: T-55

The Cougars average 29.8 points per game on offense.

So far in the 2012 season, Utah State scores an average of 28.2 per game, for no. 60 in the nation. The University of Utah has the worst ranked scoring offense in the state, as its 23 points per game ties for no. 94 in the country.

Oklahoma State has the No. 1 scoring offense in college football, averaging 55.75 points per game.